Went out on Saturday to practice with the phantom, did a nice long flight took some video while I was flying, practised the test manoeuvres for the PFCO and at the end thought I would try this in sport mode as I may have to in the test, (first mistake) the test wants you to fly in ATTI mode, not sport. now in sports mode the phantom flys faster but does not use obstacle avoidance.
What I neglected to account for is that when velocity exceeds thrust the drone continues in the direction it is travelling until thrust overcomes velocity (Second Mistake) this practically means when you zoom across the field at full chat and slam the thing into reverse it takes a while to slow down and stop)
I watched in horror as the phantom barely clipped twig which promptly grabbed the drone into the tree where it fell like a stone, I thought this would be fine until I realised it was stuck in a fenced-off culvert submerged in water, which they do not like.
I struggled to get to the drone and mostly failed my daughter even tried to wade up the stream but was beaten back by the brambles, The drone was suddenly recovered when spiderman turned up lept over the fence and grabbed the drone for me, no idea who he was just that he was a very fit soldier, to be fair Claire was almost through the brambles by this point.
In the cold light of day and after some time in a hot dry room I realise that the phantom is badly damaged the battery is ruined and the drone itself will not come on so I am sending it to a drone repair specialist to see if I can get it mended, this is looking expensive.